The Irish Times broke the story about a "schism" within the Independent News & Media board that led its CEO Robert Pitt to consider his position. For more on the story this week's host Cliff Taylor talks to business affairs correspondent Mark Paul and media reporter Laura Slattery.

Then Ciara O'Brien pops in with an array of gadgets you may be tempted to splash out on, either for yourself or a loved one this Christmas. Ciara shows Cliff how to use a Virtual Reality headset and the best way to silence a blabbering Furby.

The Central Bank announced today that it is easing the mortgage lending rules. What will this mean for first time buyers and will supply meet increasing demand for new units? To discuss the permutations of this latest decision, Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Housing Studies lecturer in DIT Lorcan Sirr and Markets Correspondent Joe Brennan.

Black Friday promises deep discounts for bargain hunters in the run up to Christmas. While a a relatively new phenomenon in this country, Black Friday has had American consumers queuing outside stores for decades. Does it actually represent good value for shoppers and why are some bricks and mortar retailers less than enthused by it's growing popularity here? Our Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope, CTO with eShopWorld Colm O'Donaill and founder of Wolfgang Digital Alan Coleman offer their insight.

"Transformational" is how Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney described the company's proposed $747.5 million acquisition of Illinois-based Peacock Foods. Patrick joins Ciarán Hancock to talk about the deal. Why is this deal the right one for Greencore now, and how will they avoid a repeat of their ill-fated purchase of Imperial Holly in the 1990s?

In part two, Irish Times business team Cliff Taylor, Laura Slattery and Joe Brennan pop in with all the business news that's fit to talk about, including post-Trump market mayhem, moves by Aer Lingus and Easyjet, and Virgin Media's purchase of UTV.

The election of Donald Trump has taken everyone by surprise, not least the Republican Party who seemingly have no transitional arrangement in place. How will President Trump impact free trade? Will we see an exodus of US companies from our shores? Will President Trump retreat from some of the rhetoric that defined his election campaign? To answer these questions and more, Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by business consultant and former Fine Gael TD Lucinda Creighton, Equity Analyst at Investec Ronan Dunphy and Business Editor Cliff Taylor.

We look ahead to the presidential election and ask whether a President Trump or a President Clinton would best serve Irish interests in trade, foreign direct investment, the peace process and dealing with undocumented migrants. On the panel are former Taoiseach John Bruton, American economist Megan Greene and NUIG lecturer and Boston native Larry Donnelly.

Mark Paul paid a visit to Athenry in Galway to find out about Apple's proposed data centre there and a legal challenge to it's development that has the local business community up in arms.

A proposed trade deal between Canada and the EU could be scuppered by the staunchly socialist Wallonia region in South Belgium. To look at the reasons for this we're joined by Suzanne Lynch and EU trade expert John Clancy.

Does the merger of AT&T and Time Warner signal a change in how their customers will watch content in the future? The $85.4 billion deal would bring 130 million mobile phone customers and 25 million pay-TV subscribers in contact with a vast amount of content - if allowed go through. Laura Slattery explains.

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